From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD), a group of Zamfara State indigenes, have expressed disappointment over the allegations by the federal government that bandits bring arms into the state through unidentified aircraft in exchange for gold.
PAPSD insisted that the pronouncement has once again shown the porosity and ineffectiveness of Nigeria’s security intelligence.
Reacting to the allegation in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, PAPSD Executive Director Dr Sani Abdulahi Shinkafi argued that it has also brought to the fore the inefficiency in the government agency saddled with the responsibility of managing the nation’s airspace, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
‘It is a known fact that without the approval of NAMA no aircraft can enter the Nigerian airspace neither can any aircraft have the clearance to land anywhere in the country. So for the federal government to accept hook, line and sinker the allegation that unidentified aircraft brings in arms into Zamfara State and take out gold from the state is hogwash,’ the statement read.
‘The revelation by the National Security Council (NSC) has exposed the failure of the nation’s intelligence on the part of Nigeria’s security architecture. If any unauthorized aircraft was getting access into an area, it is the failure of intelligence not a failure of aviation. When there is a problem, it is the job of the national intelligence to inform the NAMA or the Nigerian Airforce.
‘From what is happening, it shows glaringly that there is a lack of inter-agency collaboration, cohesion and synergy among the nation’s security apparatuses. Because if there is credible intelligence it ought to have been shared among the security agencies and not to have gone ahead to issue a no-fly zone without credible intelligence reports.’
